Moving Toward Justice for Female Juvenile Offenders in the New Millennium

Abstract

This article presents an overview of national and state efforts to address gender-specific programming and summarizes findings from a statewide assessment in California in 1997 and 1998. Review of the literature and results of data analyses of a cross-sectional survey of program providers and agency representatives, along with information from focus group interviews with program participants and providers, show that the needs of girls and young women in the juvenile justice system are tied to specific, identifiable risk and protective factors, from which it is possible to model gender-appropriate interventions. The results indicate that the family is the most important risk and protective factor for young women. Respondents indicated a wide range of barriers to program services and the need for more information and gender-specific program models or best practices. It would appear that the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention's Challenge Activity E grant has provided the initial momentum toward shaping the policies and programs for the new millennium in California and other states, but there is still much to be done to meet this challenge.